Is Potato with Skin Acidic or Alkaline?
Potato, with skin (baked) is strongly alkaline: Negative PRAL: alkalizing after digestion.
Classification
Baked in the oven with the skin on, a potato reaches −8.7. Water evaporates during baking, the potassium becomes more concentrated per 100 g, and nothing is lost to cooking water. Boiled, it is a little less low. A large 250 g baked potato adds about −22, enough to offset, on paper, a 150 g piece of pan-fried veal next to it.
In the Vegetables & Salad category, potato with skin (baked) ranks #10 of 110, sorted from alkaline to acid-forming. More alkaline options include Chicory (−9.3), Dandelion greens (−9.7), Purslane (−10.3). More acid-forming are Lamb's lettuce (−8.3), Celeriac (−8.3), Swiss chard (−7.8).
Acidic or alkaline: PRAL, not pH
On this site, acidic and alkaline refer to the PRAL (potential renal acid load). It estimates what a food leaves behind once it has been digested: a positive value is acid-forming, a negative value is alkalizing. That is different from the pH of the food itself: a lemon tastes sour, yet its PRAL is −4.0, so it is alkalizing. Your diet does not change your blood pH. It does change how much acid your kidneys have to deal with.
Goes well with
Frequently Asked Questions
Is potato with skin acidic?
It depends on what you mean by acidic. The pH describes the food itself, for example how sour it tastes. The PRAL describes what it leaves behind after digestion: Potato, with skin (baked) has a PRAL of −8.7 per 100 g, so it counts as strongly alkaline in your daily acid-base balance.
How much potato with skin do I need for a noticeable effect?
A serving (150 g) of potato with skin adds −13.0 to your daily balance. For comparison: an egg is around +5.4, a slice of cheese around +6. So one serving of potato with skin roughly offsets one of them.
Why is potato with skin alkaline even though it is not a typical alkaline food?
The PRAL depends on the minerals left over after digestion, not on taste or pH. Potato, with skin provides more potassium, magnesium and calcium than phosphorus and protein, so the balance is negative (−8.7).
Potato, with Skin logged, balance checked.
Basentracker adds up every meal automatically and shows whether your day is in the alkaline range. The same values as on this page, all 977 foods, photo scan, recipes.
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Compare all Vegetables & Salad: Vegetables & Salad table. Common questions are answered in Acidic or Alkaline?, and the PRAL calculator adds up a whole meal.
Source: Basentracker food database (PRAL according to Remer & Manz, calculated from protein, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium per 100 g). This information does not replace medical advice.